4x4's used FOR actual purpose!?!

[sam-robinson]

Does anyone feel output by people banging on about 4x4s are damaging the environment?
I have been approached by indivuals driving in a town who shouted at me for driving a Land Rover Defender through their "sleeply little town"! I need a Land Rover for my profession, as I am a shepherd and need to get into the hills and off the beaten track.
Anyone who has suffered the same experience as me, please leave me a message.

I do disagree with the peope who have large 4x4s in towns when they drive to schools and the shops and back, which is dangerous and pointless.

I would be happy to read answers from anyone on this matter.

[gary baldy]

Ive had Landies myself in the past so i know a 'working' 4x4 when i see one (they are usually defenders) but sadly they are all seen as the enemy by those who have a problem with them. With my green head I think these big 4x4s are no worse than 4 litre jags or mercs but with my opinionated head on i think people who dont 'work' them are ostentatious and daft. Usually driven by stupid blond bints or by overweight electricians with ego issues (land cruiser usually with the later - X5s with the former).
Most people who shout at 4x4 townies are hyprocrites anyway - try and ignore them if you can a get back to your Phil Drabble-esque pursuits.

[banth]

Hi,

I have no problem with people who use their 4x4s for their livelihood, surely that's the sort of thing they were built for.

What annoys me is the "Chelsea Tractor", i.e. the 4x4s who bully other drivers because they are bigger and assume you will let them barge in front of you in a queue or they are exempt from the highway code altogether. Not to say they all do it, but why do they need a car that big in London anyway? And don't get me started on the completely unnecessary 4-5 litre engines, I can't understand why more people don't drive smart cars or the like in this city, you don't get there quicker because you have a bigger engine. Fact.

Secondly, when I'm driving through small country lanes with very few passing places, it is ALWAYS me who has to go up the muddy side so the perfectly valeted 4x4 can slide past without so mush as brushing a bush. It angers me so much, that's what they're made for - cross goddamn country.

Most of the time they have only the driver in them anyway, and, if you want to get your kids to school, try making them walk, they're probably overweight anyway.

Rant over, thank you for letting me get that off my chest!

P.s. I'd just like to say I understand that not every 4x4 driver is inconsiderate but the way I feel about them is due to my own experiences, much the same as others may feel about boy racers or white van men so please allow me to have my opinion like everybody else!

x

[jake-the-peg]

I have a Defender too or rather my wife does. We have absolutely no need for an off road vehicle but do need something very robust with the ability to occasionally carry large numbers of people and/or heavy loads - Hence the Defender.

The thing about cars like Defenders is that although they are thirsty they are no more so than many sports cars and given the fact that they last much much longer than equivilent cars and are much more basic the energy used in their production makes them a lot greener from that perspective ( of course that's not the case for things like Range Rovers )

If people live in sleepy little towns they have to get used to rural life not try to bring their urban lifestyle with them - In my village we had someone complain to the council about the smell from farmers muck-spreading recently!

As for damaging the Environment, let them start with the Feraris and Maseratis. When all the other vehicles are doing 30 MPG they can get on their soap boxes!

[qapmoc]

Well Sam, if your exhaust is falling off and tied on with bits of string and very noisy then maybe they have a point but otherwise they are just ''green loonies'' who are all mouth and no brains. You know, it seems that many people in the UK and other places rely absolutely on products and services which they say they can't accept because of environment concerns or pesticide or animal rearing or whatever and they do so because they have no idea at all how the ''system'' works in reality. Near me is an animal feeds producing plant, been there for 20 years or so and was built in what was then a deserted open land area, now people have bought land closer and closer to the factory and now they complain about the smell, which has not changed since the place was built and are trying to get it shutdown or moved !! But I am sure that many of them eat animal products which have been fed from that plant. If it is closed then it would affect their food supply directly but do they care or understand.

[flip-flop]

Wait for this argument...........I'm sure its coming..........its bound to..........."I drive a 4 x 4 because it is safer for me and my kids in a crash"

Fair enough - but what about the poor sods you've just crashed into in their normal saloon car, with your bumper coming at them at head height, eh?

Working 4x4s - fine, no argument: popping down to Sainsbury's in your 4x4 having dropped your kids off at school and then going to the gym? You are a plank. Utterly unneccesary.

[stanleyman]

I drive a deisel Land Rover Discovery, it takes up no more room than a large car, it has seven seats and gives 35 mpg. My neighbour has a petrol Volvo, much the same size, he only gets 20 mpg. I can and do tow heavy trailers and I also use it for work which often involves off road visiting farms and boatyards. It is sometimes full of children and we also tow our caravan on holiday. It is reliable, comfortable, easy to maintain and cheap to run.

I can think of any other car that will do all this and if I go into town, often to or from work I don't see a problem. There are a few village idiots driving their Ford Fiestas still only getting 35 mpg who think they are the only ones helping the planet and who should, if they really have to, be targetting real gas guzzlers with large petrol engines who do twice as much polluting.

Unfortunatly these fools can't tell the difference and I'm sure there is also an element of jealousy that they can't afford a decent car. I have been shouted at but with the stereo turned up I couldn't hear them so thought I'd just run over their dog or something.

[Frankieola]

I work for a Land Rover dealer that has just opened and had the pleasure of Greenpeace members coming down a while ago and chaining themselves to the cars in a protest! Ther arguments were based on the facts they chose and ignored a lot of other criteria.

They banged on about poor fuel economy and didnt take any notice of the fact that 95% of the cars we sell are diesel, Instead quoting figures for a car we stopped making about 3 years previously!!

When asked had they protested at the other garage down the road that imports Hummers that are all petrol and do 13mpg, And the Jeep dealer they said NO!

Oh, And by the way, Whilst they were there, We sold 2 cars to people who both said "I didnt know that you were a Land Rover dealer until I saw those blokes outside!!"

[jake-the-peg]

Yes but just look at the other 5%

The Range Rover Sport V8 4.2 supercharged for example. What is the fuel consumption of that? I heard 12.6mpg! Urban

I have to ask myself "what is the problem that that car was designed to solve? "

I can see the day coming when cars that cannot do at least 25mpg will simply not be given approval for sale in the EU - and it's hard to see a good reason to argue against it

[stanleyman]

I have to agree with you Jake but I think a minimum of 30 mpg is not unreasonable and easily achieved with good performance in normal driving. The average medium sized deisel car can get around 50 mpg. There isn't room for high performance cars on our congested roads but I'm not against them being used on a race track.

I'm a sort of supporter of Green Peace but if they can't get their facts right before kicking off then I'm afraid I'll have to reconsider that, good publicity for Land Rover though!

[sam-robinson]

Many thanks for all of your comments, it is very interesting in reading them. I like the one about a minimum MPG, but mine only does 20 and thats a diesel!

Keep writing.

[jake-the-peg]

Ouch!

My 300tdi averages about 28 on a good run - time for a re-tune?

[trotsky]

hi im the bloke that was shouting at you ,it wasnt so much the land rover it was the noise off the sheep in the back that got to me ,and id been on night shift

[sam-robinson]

Oh right! OK I now know that driving with a load of noisy sheep isn't a good idea. I'll try a different route. Thanks for apologising! I thought that it was my car!

In reply to the 300Tdi retune question Jake the Peg. Do you know how much this would cost?

[camille79]

My criteria when assessing 4x4s is, "if it isn't dirty, you don't need it!) And is it just me or does it always seem to be the chelsea tractors that blatantly park in the parent/child or disabled spaces in carparks (with neither child nor elderly relative in sight!)

[stanleyman]

My old 200 tdi only averaged 29 mpg so I was pleasantly surprised when I can get 35 mpg unladen with my current 300 tdi. The Discovery is quite aerodynamic and higher geared compared to the Defender so this probably accounts for a lot but 20 mpg seems very low unless you do a lot of off road work. Worth having a good service and check for fuel leaks. Are you using it for sheep dip, bhaaar?

Q.What do you call a sheep that can write with both front feet?

A. Lambedextrous.

Q. What is a sheeps favourite form of transport?

A. a Lambretta or a Lamborgini.

Q. What is a sheeps favourite wine?

A. Lambrusco.

Loads more if you want!

[trotsky]

maybe your doing too many ewe turns : )

[Toureman]

Just a little comment on all the posers who drive 4x4s,

Richard Branson was in a Rangerover that overturned on a motorway and he praised the build of it claiming it probably saved his life, then someone pointed out that if he had been in a normal car which had better stability it would not have turned over in the first place!

[stanleyman]

Toureman, this is just another misinformed and unjustified assumption. The Range Rover chassis was the original model for the current Land Rovers and they have to be stable to cope with extreme cross country use. It's all to do with the centre of gravity not the height of the roof. I've seen more cars on their roofs than 4 x 4's, trucks or double decker buses.